Method for mixing concrete



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Patented Aug. 14, 1951 orslcs METHOD FOR MIXING CONCRETE William J. Anderson, West Hartford, Conn.

No Drawing. Application May 31, 1951, Serial No. 229,271

4 Claims.

This invention is a continuation in part of my copending application Serial No. 118,459, filed September 28, 1949, and relates generally to a process of mixing concrete, and, more specifically, to a process employing Portland type cement as the bonding agent of the concrete. The cements herein referred to as Egmland type include those both as typical Portland cemen or Rosendale cement such as may be obtained by sintering and grinding of calcareous and argillaceous materials and natural rock or other natural cements capable of setting by reacting with water.

It is well known in the art that sand or fine aggregate used in making concrete bulks to a greater volume when handled as moist materials; the finer the material, the greater the bulking. As a consequence, the voids in the components must be compensate for the enlargement, with the result that more cement and water than is necessary for best results are required to fill these voids.

Little consideration has previously been given to the bulking of cement which, being a very fine granular material, will bulk even more than the coarser aggregates in the presence of water. Just as in the case of the sand, the voids in the cement are enlarged and a greater quantity of water is used than is necessary to attain hydration of the cement particles.

Heretofore, sand, gravel or stone and cement, all of varying degrees of moisture and bulking properties, have been simultaneously dumped into a mixer and water added. Naturally, all the aggregates bulk. Each aggregate takes a portion of the water with the result that more water is used than is necessary to accomplish the hydration of the cement, and results in aconcrete product of an inferior quality. The excess water, if left in the concrete, makes it susceptible to damage caused by freezing, as water expands and occupies more space when it is frozen. Also, the concrete is more porous due to the excess water, has less compressive strength and is less durable.

There are devices which make possible the removal of part of the excess water, but the result is uncertain and the process tedious and time-consuming, since it has to be applied to thin sections or layers as the concrete is being placed.

It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention to determine required quantities of n. j emeififaiifwa' by t e voids present in tlic various a sregatesl 2 z Another object of this invention is the provision of a process for mixing concrete which will substantially reduce bulking of the materials; from the greater volume, caused by the surface moisture present in these substances.

A further object of the invention'is the use of a minimum amount of water so that there is no excesswhish ee e drained of! or which concrete in accordance with Abrams law (the compressive strength of concrete varies directly? with the water-cement ratio).

This invention proposes controlle djlillgingby first dryfiig'the'i ggreziientsilnoreparticularla the sand by exrTosing the same to heat or other; media'in order to dry the same to a surface dry: condition. Thus, natural sands containing more: than 2%, generally more than 4%, of moisture, have a bulk volume which varies from to; of the normal bulk of the surface dry sand hereof. The surface magi is one which: has been dried to contain less than 2% of free; a masdgebm l i2i l llllessihan 1976f free moisture. I t will be understood that: of'thetifi'i'typ's dffiioisture, free moisture, i.'e-.,. total moisture which includes not only the moisture adhering to the surface of the sand grains but also the moisture in cracks, crevices and. normal imperfections, as well as surface moisture,- it is the surface moisture which contributeslargely to the bulking effect and with which thepresent invention is primarily concerned. Free moisture, however, is readily measured, hence moisture quantities are herein given in both terms. A surface drlsang o gd generally contain on the suiffa'ciiless thanji of 1% 'afidoften less than of llnflheriit hasween' extensivelydm general, where thmre has been reduced to less than about 2% the sand; will have considerably reduced bulking, gener-@ ally of the order of less than 25%, and where-! the free moisture is less than about 1% the bulk-- ing is reduced to less than about 18%. Thus. whatever the surface moisture condition of the sand where less than the stated maximum of" free moisture is present the sand will havemarkedly reduced bulk as compared to ordinary sands, but as stated, where the surface moisture is less than of 1% there is substantially no bulking due to the presence of moisture. It,

Secondly, the additggggmater solely to the ce ent prevents ul lging of the said or firie haw aggregate '12., w nesuriaeliiiil di'tion until mixed' with the cement paste. mums-cm which is only slightly in excess of that required to hydrate the cement, provides increased compressive strength due to low water-cement ratio, greater density and practical elimination of all bulking. The cement-paste in this form is empirically of a relatively stiff plastic mix as distinguished from a highly fluid slurry with a minimum of bulking.

The present invention proposes a simple and rapid method of determining the amount of Water es ted to. 111 795 1 $553 .35 the amount of cement required to fill the vans in the sand or fine aggregate and the amount of sand required to fill the voids in the coarse aggregate.

The following steps are followed to provide twenty-seven cubic feet or one cubic yard of concrete:

(1) Obtain by test the apparent or bulk specific gravity of all of the materials, water being taken as 1.00;

(2) From the apparent specific gravity, calculate the weight at absolute volume of one cubic foot of each of the ingredients. This is found for each by multiplying the apparent specific gravity by 62.4 pounds, the weight of one cubic foot of water;

3) Determine the percentage of voids in each aggregate. This consists in subtracting the actual weight per cubic foot from the weight per cubic foot at absolute volume (62.4 times the apparent specific gravity) and dividing the difference by the weight per cubic foot at absolute volume, and multiplying the result by 100.

(4) From the percentage of voids found in the material, calculate the weight of a cubic foot of surface dry material, loose measure. This will be found by multiplying the weight at absolute volume by (100% minus the percentage of voids);

' (6) The quantity of coarse aggregate (e. g. stone, gravel, slag, etc.) measured in cubic feet absolute volume, to be used equals twenty-seven cubic feet times the percentage of the solid matter in the aggregate (100% minus the percentage of voids in the aggregate);

(6) The quantity of sand, in cubic feet absolute volume, to be used equals twenty-seven cubic feet times the percentage of voids in the coarse aggregate times the percentage of solid matter in the sand (100% minus the percentage of voids in the sand);

(7) The quantity of cement, in cubic feet absolute volume, to be used equals twenty-seven cubic feet times the percentage of voids in the coarse aggregate times" the percentage of solid matter in the cement (100% minus the perce tage of voids in the cement);

(8) The quantity of water, in cubic feet, to be used equals twenty-seven cubicfeet times the percentage of voids in the coarse aggregate times the percentage of voids in the sand times the percentage of voids in the cement;

(9) The sum of theabsolute volumes found in the last four steps must equal twenty-seven cubic feet;

(10) To arrive at the weights of the various materials to make twenty-seven cubic feet of concrete, multiply the absolute volume of each ingredient in cubic feet absolute volume by the 4 weight per cubic foot at absolute volume, see Step (3) supra;

(11) The weight of cement found divided by 94 pounds, the weight of one bag of cement, 5 equals the number of bags of cement to be used; (12) The weight of water found divided by 8.33 pounds, the weight of one gallon of water, equals the number of gallons of water to be used;

(13) The weight of sand in pounds divided 10 by the number of bags of cement equals the sand-cement ratio. This should equal 0.95 cubic feet, the loose volume in one bag of cement, divided by the percent of voids in the sand, multiplied by the weight of sand per cubic foot loose 15 measure, found in Step (4), and

(14) The number of gallons of water found in Step (12) divided by the number of bags of cement equals the water-cement ratio, expressed as gallons per bag of cement, or this ratio can also be expressed by dividing the weight of water found in (12) by the weight of cement found in (11) in which case the water-cement ratio is a decimal and represents weight of water to weight of cement.

In practice, the quantities of sand, in a surface dry condition rse aggregate, cement ammmgsn'figzc as above. Next, the surface moisture is removed from the sand and c arse e Ease o e san as move, the sand will be dried carefully to a surface dry condition wherein the sand has less than 2% of free moisture, and normally and preferably has less than 1% of free moisture, the dry sand surface having less than 1 of surface moisture. Then the water and ement are u thoroughlymme water-p ad dr fine and.mares.msresaisanmn ejs w mixed! The concrete produced is definitely of superior quality to that heretofore produced inasmuch as it is resistant to freezing, denser, stronger and subsequently of greater durabilityQ While the invention has been described in detail, it is to be understood that only such limitations are to be imposed thereon as may reasonably come within the scope of the appended claims, as, for example, it is not absolutely necessary in order to obtain the objects of the invention, to use the maximum quanity of coarse aggregate indicated in (5) supra, provided the other ingredients are respectively proportionately increased, bearing in mind, however, that the greater the percentage of coarse aggregate used, within the limits shown in (5) the greater will be the compressive strength of the concrete (if the coarse aggregate used is of strong, durable material).

I claim:

1. The method of producing a plastic concrete mix comprising first mixing dry finely ground Portland type cement with a quantity of water sufficient only to fill the normal bulk voids between the dry cement particles and then mixing the water-cement paste thus formed with dry sand having a free' moisture content of less than 2%, the quantity of water-cement paste being sufficient only to fill the normal bulk voids between the dry sand particles.

2. The method of producing a plastic concrete mix comprising first mixing dry finely ground Portland type cement with a quantity of water sufficient only to fill the normal bulk voids between the dry cement particles and then mixing the water ceme'nt paste thus formed with surface FLA/a1 Can; we En:

dry sand to form a mortar the surface dry sand having a free moisture content of less than 1%, the surface moisture of the sand grains being less than %th of 1%, the quantity of cement paste being sufficient only to fill the normal bulk voids between the dry sand particles.

3. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the plastic concrete mix further contains coarse aggregate.

4. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein the plastic concrete mix further contains coarse aggregate.

5 WILLIAM J. ANDERSON.

No references cited.

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UNITED STATES PA'IENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE or CORRECTION Patent No. 2,564,619 August 4, 951

William J Anderson It is hereby certified that error appears in theprinted specificatio: of the above numbered patent requiring cerx eotion and that the said Letters Patent ahould read an uni-rooted below.

flolmm 3, line 61, after "aggregate" insert times the percentage *of voids in me sand,--.

Sigqed and sealed this 6th day of December 1955.

Attaat: I H ROBERT c. wnso: Attes bing Officer Camiaaioner of Patenl 

1. THE METHOD OF PRODUCING A PLASTIC CONCRETE MIX COMPRISING FIRST MIXING DRY FINELY GROUND PORTLAND TYPE CEMENT WITH A QUANTITY OF WATER SUFFICIENT ONLY TO FILL THE NORMAL BULK VOIDS BETWEEN THE DRY CEMENT PARTICLES AND THEN MIXING THE WATER-CEMENT PASTE THUS FORMED WITH DRY SAND HAVING A FREE MOISTURE CONTENT OF LESS THAN 2%, THE QUANTITY OF WATER-CEMENT PASTE BEING SUFFICIENTLY ONLY TO FILL THE NORMAL BULK VOIDS BETWEEN THE DRY SAND PARTICLES. 